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The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa: Traveler Reviews

Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com
TripAdvisor Traveler Rating:
  • A summary score based on quality, quantity and age of traveler ratings.
4 of 5 stars 168 Reviews
5.0 of 5 stars
99
4.0 of 5 stars
31
3.0 of 5 stars
12
2.0 of 5 stars
16
1.0 of 5 stars
10
TripAdvisor Popularity Index:
  • Measures overall traveler satisfaction based on ratings, reviews and other sources.
#1 of 3 hotels in Carefree
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  • Hotel class: 5 of 5
  • Rooms: 199
  • Address: 34631 N Tom Darlington Dr Carefree, AZ 85377
Property Type: Resort
  • Hotel featuring an assortment of amenities, sports facilities and leisure activities.
Description: Resort Hotel offers popular amenities, restaurants, golf course; situated in the Sonora Desert foothills; staff is multilingual. This description is based on information provided by the hotel.
Business Center Fitness Center Free High-Speed Internet Pets Allowed Restaurant Swimming Pool
Check Rates: $369 Avg. Price
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TripAdvisor Traveler Reviews

Reviews of The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

( 67-71 of 168 )
“Watch out for the desert creatures!”

The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

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2 of 5 stars
Lubbock, Texas
Mar 4, 2007
6/8 found this review helpful

When my husband and I first were married, we stayed a few nights at the Boulders (June 2003). We had a fantastic time! We were pampered by the staff and the room, spa, and restaurants were quite impressive. Well, it seems much has changed since then. My husband wanted to surprise me and reserved our exact casita that we previously stayed in for a night in December. We had been visiting our families and he thought we would need one night for ourselves. The front desk was very courteous when we arrived. It was unusually cold and rainy this past visit, so we were excited to build a fire in the room. The room appeared clean and comfortable, but as we settled, we discovered disappointment in our stay. The bathroom was not very clean; there was blood on the toilet and a few dark stains on the tile floor (not sure if it was coffee or more blood because the stains were close to the toilet). We called housekeeping for additional shower gel and towels and it took over an hour for our request to be filled. In addition, as we were falling asleep, my husband got stung by a scorpion (in the bed). After that point, it was no longer relaxing. Instead, we stayed up for hours due to trying to find the scorpion and feeling anxious because we did not know where it went (it was dark when he got stung and when he jumped out of bed, he kicked it off). The next morning we called poison control to make sure he would be okay (his leg felt numb). We told a staff member about our encounter and the individual was very apathetic. After we returned home, my husband contacted someone from customer service and they replied that they were sorry that we did not have a pleasant stay and that they encouraged us to try them again. The reply that we received did not seem like they really cared and it did not convince us to "try" another night at the Boulders for $500. If you want internet service, it is an additional fee per day (I think $9.99) as well as the resort fee of $35 for valet parking and other services. If you would rather use the front desk internet service, you can pay $4.95 for 15 minutes. As expensive as it is to stay there, if you are willing to "try" this resort, I suggest going when it is warmer (pool, hiking, golf). In the winter, there are not many things to do, unless you would like to spend a day at the spa (any treatments have their own fees). This is a nice resort for getting away from the city because it is situated in the beautiful desert. However, since this past experience, we would rather spend our money at another resort, especially one that has excellent customer service and one that values customer experience.

  • This TripAdvisor Member:
    • Liked — Beautiful desert resort!
    • Disliked — Customer service
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
hvtrust's Summary
Date of Stay: December 2006
Traveled with: Spouse / significant other
Visit was for: Romantic getaway
Age group: 25-34
Member since: July 08, 2006
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
    • 1 of 5 stars Business service
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
probably not
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Older travelers
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Other
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Management Response
DavidatBoulders, Rooms Director
(Management representative)
Mar 14, 2007
The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa is committed to creating an enjoyable and memorable resort experience for all of our guests. Please be assured that when a guest raises a concern we take it seriously and work to reach a prompt resolution. We regret that we were not made aware of this incident during their stay. We would have wanted to have the opportunity to extend our sincere apologies. We regret that despite our best efforts we fell short of resolving this matter to the full satisfaction of the customer on this occasion.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Check Rates
Average price*: $369 (year-round)
Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com
“5 star prices --- 1 star service”

The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

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1 of 5 stars
Foodie in Michigan
Feb 28, 2007
7/9 found this review helpful

What a downhill slide this property has taken. Have stayed here several times over the past 5 years and had always enjoyed a 1st class experience.
The restaurant boasted a gourmet wine list but when trying to order was advised they were out of stock on many offerings.
Both the general manager and head bartender were discourteous and rude to a number of guests.
Awoke one morning to find I had no towels upon exiting the shower.
At check out was presented with someone else's bill -- to which the reception agent muttered --- " damn maids can't even read English".
Our experience was totally unacceptable and at $500/day certainly represented no value.

  • This TripAdvisor Member:
    • Liked — The grounds
    • Disliked — The staff
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
epicurian46's Summary
Date of Stay: February 2007
Traveled with: Business colleagues
Visit was for: Business
Age group: 50-64
Member since: February 28, 2007
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
    • 2 of 5 stars Business service
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
no way!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Older travelers
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles, An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Great pool scene, Pet owners, Families with young children, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Business meeting / Event, Great food / Wine, Golf
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Management Response
DavidatBoulders, Rooms Director
(Management representative)
Mar 14, 2007
When a guest raises a concern, we take it seriously and work to reach a prompt resolution. We regret that despite our best efforts we fell short in resolving this matter to the full satisfaction of the customer on this occasion. Please be assured that the entire team at The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, is committed to creating an enjoyable and highly memorable resort experience for all of our guests. Regretfully this guest never brought his concerns to management.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Check Rates
Average price*: $369 (year-round)
Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com
“Loved the room and the grounds”

The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

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4 of 5 stars
Toronto
Feb 28, 2007
1/1 found this review helpful

Expensive but great resort...
Ive stayed in 3 of the big resorts (Princess, 4Seasons, and Boulders) and I liked this as much as the other 2, maybe even better.
Fireplace in room was great b/c of the cold rain we had, but hotel was a little slow bringing extra wood.
Service throughout was great though, no reasl complaints.

golf course was not as great as price would lead you to believe.

Beautiful grounds, great walks, good foos, and wife loved the spa.

  • This TripAdvisor Member:
    • Liked — room
    • Disliked — none
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
knowlzy's Summary
Date of Stay: February 2007
Traveled with: Spouse / significant other
Visit was for: Romantic getaway
Age group: 25-34
Member since: August 27, 2006
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, People with disabilities, Older travelers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Great food / Wine, Golf, Spa
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Check Rates
Average price*: $369 (year-round)
Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com
“A Bride That Worked”

The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

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5 of 5 stars
Northern California
Jan 25, 2007
1/1 found this review helpful

This was my wife's first trip without the kids! The only way I could get her to do something like that was to take her to a SPA desination resort. It has everything you need from great food, tennis facility, two highly rated golf courses (North and South) and of course Golden Door Spa. She was very happy with her spa treatments while I ended up spending most of my time playing at the tennis facility. Played just the front nine of the North course since I did not want to take up the whole day playing golf since my wife was with me. Hiked around the boulders right by the resort which was alot of fun. Our rental car was a four wheel drive which was fun in the desert areas - doing donuts out in wide open space is fun. The casita was fine but my wife was not impressed. Large room done in earth tones with a balcony area. Service was above average with some special touches like filing ice container twice a day. It is not right in the Phoenix area so be aware that you will have a little drive. This is my only experence in AZ desert so I can't say if this place is better than the Phoenician and other nice resorts here, but this place was not missing anything that we needed for our vacation. Not the perfect place to bring kids though.

This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
tennisaces's Summary
Date of Stay: December 2005
Member since: May 23, 2006
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Check Rates
Average price*: $369 (year-round)
Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com
“The Magic is Still Alive at the Boulders”

The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

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4 of 5 stars
Princeton, New Jersey
Dec 29, 2006
4/4 found this review helpful

No matter how many years this original "Rock Resort" has been gracing the Arizona desert near Phoeniz, it still remains an oasis that has class and a magical dynamic that will stimulate and entice you!!!

Some of the reviews of late have been premature to signal some decline in the service and top shelf accomodations at this grand dame of high class resorts in the Phoenix area.. Any shortcomings are being addressed and upgrades are forthcoming in the resturant and bar.

The staff and management went out of there way to ensure that my stay was not only one to remember, but one that brought back wonderful memories of some of my original weekends back in the late 80's and early 90's.

The golf courses are still first rate, challenging and offer breath taking vista's of the boulders and rock formations that have been gracing this sacred grounds for maybe 3 million years, give or take a year or two.

Bottom line, if you have visited the Boulder's before, don't hesitate to return again and again. The magic is still alive!!!

  • This TripAdvisor Member:
    • Liked — Very, very peaceful and magical surroundings, coupled with great golf!!!!
    • Disliked — No wireless internet in room
    • Tips/Secrets: — Book early and don't hesitate to ask for upgrades upon check in......staff will come through when available!!!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
DeSpirit's Summary
Date of Stay: November 2006
Traveled with: Solo traveler
Visit was for: Business
Age group: 50-64
Member since: December 29, 2006
  • My ratings for this hotel are:
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Check in / front desk
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
    • 4 of 5 stars Business service
Would I recommend this hotel to my best friend?
absolutely!
I recommend this hotel for:
An amazing honeymoon, A romantic getaway, Girlfriend getaway, Older travelers, Families with teenagers, Tourists
I do not recommend this hotel for:
Young singles
I selected this hotel as a top choice for:
Great food / Wine, Golf, Spa
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Check Rates
Average price*: $369 (year-round)
Call now to book: 1-800-45-HOTEL from hotels.com

Reviews of The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa

( 67-71 of 168 )
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The Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa Also Known As

Address: 34631 N Tom Darlington Dr, Carefree, AZ 85377